Improvement in apparatus for obtaining tar from sea-weed



w. H. Runnlcu. l u Apparatus for Obtaining Tar from Seafiweed.

No, 167,410, Parnfedsept.7,1's75. F123] n QE: f J

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WILLIAM H; RUDDIOK, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING TAR FROM SEA-WEED.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 167,410, dated September7, 1875; application filed July 20, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. RUDDICK, of Boston, of the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have made a new and useful.Invention for the Distillation of Sea- Weed; and I do hereby declarethe same to be fully described as follows, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings illustrative of the apparatus I use for suchdistillation, and of which- Figure l denotes a front elevation, Fig. 2 alongitudinal and vertical section, and Fig. 3 a top view, of the saidapparatus.

I accomplish the carbonization and distillation of the sea-weed by meansof the volatile products of combustion of fuel passed directlyT througha mass of the weed inclosed in a grated kiln, communicating directlywith a condenser.

In the drawings, A denotes a kiln, provided with a grate, a, and anarch-cham ber, b, there being to the kiln an opening, c, in its side, ona level with the grate, and also afloor, d, to said opening. It also hasan opening, e, to its ash-pit, with a door, f, thereto; and,furthermore. it has an opening', g, in its top, with a slidedoor, h,thereto, this latter opening being used principally for ijlling orsupplying the kiln with the sea-weed. On one side ofthe kiln, and belowit, is a stove or furnace, B, made like the kiln, except that to itsopening in its top there is a pipe, O, leading directly into theash-chamber of the kiln. From the upper part of the kiln a pipe, D,leads into a condenser, E, placed within a cistern, F, (to containwater,) and provided with an educt, Gr, leading through one side of thecistern. The kiln, as well as the furnace, has one or more pipes, H H,for discharging air from an air-blast apparatus into the ash-pit ofeach, each of said pipes H being connected with its ash-chamber, ifdesirable, by several branches, I I, provided with dampers, whosehandles are shown at K.

In operating with the said apparatus, the kiln is to be charged with drysea-Weed, and

denser, the tar and liquid hydrocarbons distilled passing from thecondenser at the saine time.

If desirable, in order to facilitate the process, the sea-weed on thegrate of the kiln mayV be set on fire, and more or less air, as occasionmay require, may be thrown into the ashpit of the kiln.

After the charge of sea-weed may have been deprived of its hydrocarbonsand reduced to charcoal, it may be lXiviated, to obtain from it theiodine or other matters contained in it.

Sometimes the grated kiln may be used with the condenser, without at thesaine time using the furnace, to produce the vola-tile products ofcombustion, these being obtained by setting' lire to the mass ofsea-weed at its bottom; but, as this causes a costly Waste of thesea-weed, it is better to make use ofthe furnace, with its separatecharge of fuel.

I do not claim, for the distillation of peat or other matter, a retortwith a furnace applied to heat it externally, in which case the volatileproducts of combustion of the fuel are supposed to escape through thechimney of the furnace, and are not carried through the material to becondensed and distilled.

I claim- The combination of the furnace B, the grated kiln A, and thecondenser E, connected by pipes C D, and furnished with one or moreairblast pipes to lead into the furnace or into the kiln, or both, asspecified.

WILLIAM H. RUDDIOK.

Witnesses FRANCIS J AMES, RALPH W. DEAN.

